Throw-away toothbrush and package



Dec- 25, 96 H. B. MaCDONALD THROW-AWAY TOOTHBRUSH AND PACKAGE Filed May12, 1960 I2 25 BE /8 20 ilnited States Patent Shares 3,070,102THROW-AWAY TQOTHBRUSH AND PACKAGE Harold B. MacDonald 123 Washington St,Wobnrn, Mass. Filed May 12, 1960, Ser. No. 2%,602 Claims. (Cl. 132-454)This invention relates to toothbrushes and more particularly to thatclass of handy sanitary articles that may be kept in sealed conditionready for instant use and after use may be thrown away.

An object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensivetoothbrush having adhesive on the rear thereof with toothpaste imbeddedin the bristles, the whole being sealed in an easily opened sanitarypackage. The construction of the package is such that upon initialopening the user will be able to place his forefinger against the backof the brush, causing the brush to adhere to his finger. Then uponremoval of the brush from the package, it may be used for cleaning theteeth and/ or massaging the gums in an acceptable manner. The brush maythen be readily peeled from the finger and thrown away.

It is recognized that throw-away toothbrushes of this general characterare not new in themselves, but the invention presented herein relates tothe combination of the toothbrush, toothpaste and package in which thetoothbrush is placed, thereby providing a complete unit that may besold, distributed and placed in positions where it will be on hand whenneeded. For example, several of these units might be placed in hotelrooms along with the wrapped cakes of soap, traveler in his pocket orluggage. Since the toothpaste is spread upon the bristles of the brushprior to packaging, no further equipment is needed to carry out thetooth cleaning operation.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent asthe description proceeds with. the aid of the accompanying drawings inwhich FIG. 1 is a perspective view of three packages, each containing anindividual toothbrush, one of the packages having been severed from thestrip.

FIG. 2 is a section taken on the line 22. of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows the condition of the package after the top and bottomcovers have been separated by the user.

FIG. 5 shows the users finger positioned agair st the back of thetoothbrush and secured thereto by a suitable adhesive.

FIG. 6 is a View similar to FIG. 5, with the bottom portion of thecontainer removed, leaving the toothbrush ready for use.

It is contemplated that the invention hereindisclosed and claimed willin its most useful form be made as a series of connected packages whichmay be readily torn off for individual use. Such a series of packages isshown in FIG. 1, the package being indicated by the numbers 2, 2' and2". Between adjacent packages is a tear line 4 and, as shown, thepackage 2 has been separated from package 2 along the first tear line 4.The toothbrushes sealed in each package are indicated at 6, 6' and 6".

The packaging of the toothbrushes in continuous strips is done byautomatic machinery. The process includes the utilization of known sheetmaterials which may be heat sealed in known manner as the brushes andapplied paste residing in the bristles pass through the packagingmachine. Of course, the packaging could be accomplished by hand so faras the invention is concerned.

The construction of each individual packaged unit will now be described.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the brush 6 comprises a back 8 whichterminates in a narrow extension 10. On

or they could be carried by a I 3,070,ifi2 Patented Dec. 25, 1962 theface of back 8 are a plurality of bristles 12 which before packaging aresmeared with toothpaste or other dentifrice 14. In the preferred form,the toothbrush will be made of molded homogeneous rubber or plastic orother equivalent. flexible material which will serve ade quately in thetooth cleaning and gum massaging capacity, but it is to be understoodthat. the invention is not limited as to the brush construction. The topsurface of the back 8 is covered with an adhesive, preferably a latexbase material which is non-hardening and capable of causing the back toadher readily to the users finger sufficiently securely to permit thetooth cleaning and/or gum massaging operation to be carried out with thefinger acting as the brush handle. The adhesive will be of such naturethat the toothbrush may, after use, be readily peeled from the finger tobe thrown away.

The packaging material which encompasses the toothbrush may be in theform of a vinyl or polyethylene sheet 18 having a sheet of aluminum foiland/ or other suitable material 20 on the outside. These two sheetsbonded together are available in the trade and form a convenientpackaging material because facin sheets of polyvinyl or polyethylene arecapable of being heat sealed together, and additionally such sheet willpeel off readily from the adhesive 16 on the back of the toothbrush.

As can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the combined layers 18 and 2b, whichwill hereinafter be referred to as the cover 22, commences at 24, withone face 25 running along the under side of the bristles of the brushand along the under side of extension it to be doubled back as at 26 fora distance equal to about the length of extension 10. This forms a firsttab 27. The cover is then redoubled as at 28 for a distance againapproximately equal to the length of the first tab 27. It is then foldedback on itself once more as at 30 to form a second tab 31. Thence thecover forms a second face 32 which runs along the top side of the backof the toothbrush terminating at 3 The opposed polyvinyl or polyethylenefaces are sealed together continuously along the edge of the strip ofpackaged brushes as at 34, and additional sealing occurs transversely ofthe strip as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3 at 36 and 38. Thus it can beseen that each of the individual toothbrushes found in the continuousstrip shown in FIG. 1 is individually sealed in its own cover. Eachpackage may be readily separated from the next succeeding package bytearing along the tear line 4.

When a person desires to make use of one of these toothbrushes, theoperation is as follows: He first ears one of the packages from thestrip so that he will have an individual unit, such as 2 in FIG. 1. Hethen grasps tab 31 between his right thumb and forefin er and grasps tab27, which tab will include the extension 10, between his left thumb andforefinger. These tabs may then be pulled apart as indicated in FIG. 4,with the cover first tearing readily along the fold line 28 and thenalong the sealed edges 36 and 38. During this operation, the upper part32 of the cover will peel away from. the adhesive covered back 8.

The user then places his finger on the adhesive surface 16 while thebrush 6 is still residing on the bottom part 25 of cover .22, all asshown in FIG. 5. By ressing sufiiciently on the back of the brush, thelatter can be made to adhere firmly to the finger. The cover face 25 isthen peeled away from the bristles and toothpaste and from extension 10,there being no adhesive on the extension. When this has been done, thebrush will then be alone on the finger as shown in PEG. 6. The user maythen clean his teeth with his finger acting as the brush handle. Whenfinished, the brush will be peeled from the finger and disposed of.

It is my intention to cover all changes and modific tions of the exampleof the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure which donot constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A disposable toothbrush package comprising a flexible toothbrush withtoothpaste spread on the bristles thereof and with adhesive on the backof said brush, a cover of sheet material sealingly enclosing said brush,said cover comprising a first face extending from beyond the end of saidbrush along the bristles and beyond the other end of said brush, saidcover being doubled back on itself to form a tab adjacent said bristlesand long enough to permit gripping by the thumb and forefinger, saidcover then being folded away from said brush to extend for a distanceapproximately equal to the length of said first tab, said cover thenbeing doubled back on itself to form a second tab and runningcontinuously along the back of said brush as a second face andcontinuing beyond said brush to overlie the edge of the first face ofsaid cover, said faces extending transversely of said brush on bothsides thereof a distance sufficient to permit said overlying portions ofthe cover faces to engage each other, said cover being sealed along thetwo transverse edges at the sides of said brush and along the singlelongitudinal edge at the end of said brush.

2. A disposable toothbrush package comprising a flexible toothbrush withtoothpaste spread on the bristles thereof and with adhesive on the backof said brush, a cover of sheet material sealingly enclosing said brush,said cover comprising a first face extending from beyond the end of saidbrush along the bristles and beyond the other end of said brush, saidcover being doubled back on itself to form a tab adjacent said bristlesand long enough to permit gripping by the thumb and forefinger, saidcover then being folded away from said brush to extend for a distanceapproximately equal to the length of said first tab, said cover thenbeing doubled back on itself to form a second tab and runningcontinuously along the back of said brush as a second face andcontinuing beyond said brush to overlie the edge of the first face ofsaid cover, said f-aces extending transversely of said brush on bothsides thereof a distance sufiicient to permit said overlying portions ofthe cover faces to engage each other, said cover being sealed along thetwo transverse edges at the sides of said brush and along the singlelongitudinal edge at the end of said brush, said toothbrush having anextension which lies between the folds of said first tab whereby whensaid tabs are separated by the user the said extension will remainwithin said first tab.

' adjacent tabs, the

3. A disposable applicator package comprising an applicator ofhomogenous flexible material with a nonsetting adhesive on the backthereof, said applicator sealed in a cover made of moisture proof sheetmaterial, said cover comprising a first face of said material lyingagainst one side of said applicator, a second face of said materiallying against the other side of said applicator, each of said faces ofmaterial doubled back to form two doubled back parts of said tabsconnected to each other adjacent one end of said applicator, and saidfaces being sealed to each other along the sides and other end of saidapplicator.

4. A disposable toothbrush package comprising a tooth brush ofhomogeneous flexible material with toothpaste imbedded in the bristlesand having an adhesive on the back thereof, a tab extending from one endof said brush, a sealed cover for said brush comprising a continuoussheet of moisture proof material, said cover having opposed faces withsaid brush therebetween, a first tab connected to one face beyond saidbrush and formed of doubled material with said tab residing therein, asecond tab of doubled material connected to said first tab and saidsecond face, said faces being sealed to each other along theirperipheries between the ends of said tabs.

5. A disposable toothbrush package comprising a flat rectangular packagemade of a single sheet of material, said package having opposed facessealed about three edges and continuing continuously around the fourthedge, said fourth edge formed to include two tabs, each tab made bydoubling the material of one face at the fourth edge toward the otherface, with the inner ends of the tabs terminating inwardly of the fourthedge a distance sufficient to enable each tab to be easily gripped bythe users fingers, a toothbrush within said package, said brush havingan extension which is disposed between the doubled material constitutingone of said tabs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS943,415 Jones Dec. 14, 1909 2,649,959 Hallahan Aug. 25, 1953 2,752,038Abbott June 26, 1956 2,763,885 Lyons Sept. 25, 1956 2,902,396 ReynoldsSept. 1, 1959 2,915,767 Vaughan Dec. 8, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 711,186Great Britain June 23, 1954

